In 1952, Three Scouts Saw a Silver Object Break Apart Over Catalina

According to the International Business Times, three scouts were hiking in the Catalina Mountains on June 25, 1952, while at summer camp on the island near Los Angeles. An Air Force intelligence report, among the documents the U.S. Department of War released on October 23, says they saw a silver object moving faster than a conventional jet. Before it disappeared, they said, it turned upward and broke apart.

The documents are part of an ongoing release of historical files on unidentified aerial phenomena. The U.S. government has been publishing them since May.

What the Report Says

The object’s altitude was unclear. The officer who wrote the report did not assess the boys’ credibility, describing their testimony as scant and, at best, plausible. The document records what the boys said but doesn’t determine what appeared in the sky.

Another sighting was reported on the island on November 16, 1953. A person whose identity was not given in the document saw a round, whitish-purple object over Catalina. At first, it appeared motionless. Then it moved northwest, toward Los Angeles, for about 10 minutes.

What We Know About the Sighting

No document shows exactly what the boys saw. In a report on a 1955 sighting, an officer wrote that there was a possible astronomical explanation, so no further investigation was needed. In 2024, the Pentagon’s UFO research office reported that it had found no verified evidence that the investigated sightings resulted from extraterrestrial activity, or that the United States had such technology.

The file contains the three boys’ testimony and the officer’s reservations, but no answer to what they saw.